Non-fiction Book Project

Today the 5th graders came to the library to select a book of their choice for their non-fiction project.  This project will incorporate reading non-fiction, generating questions while reading, web searching and creating a Keynote presentation. In preparation of them coming, I pulled over 200 books across our entire non-fiction collection that are high interest and under 200 pages.  I had to borrow a few tables to display them all.  When the students arrived, we walked to each table while I gave a mini-booktalk on some of the really interesting titles such as The Perilous Journey of the Donner Party, Dark Game, Spies of Mississippi, and The Man-Eating Tigers of the Sundarbans.  I then had the students sit at one of the tables, with no more than 3 students to a table.  They had to pick at least one book from the table and write down the title, call number, subject, and mark their level of interest on a form that I provided them.  They would have 2 minutes to do this and then move to the next table.  I used Online Stopwatch to time them.  By the time they were done, the students had made notes on at least 8 books.  They then could check out their favorite book.  Every student was easily able to find a non-fiction book that appealed to him or her; most of the students were really excited about their selection.

These 5th graders will now have three weeks to read their book.  As they are reading, they will generate questions about what they are reading on sticky notes.   Many of these questions will most likely be answered as they continue to read the book, but some their questions will require them to search the Internet.  We are using this unit to discuss web-searching techniques and finding reliable web sources; they will have time in class to search for answers to their questions.  After they have finish reading the book and answering their questions, they will select their four best questions, which they will explain to their classmates in a five to seven minute Keynote presentation.

Speed Booking

About every three weeks language arts classes come to the library to hear booktalks and check out books.  For each booktalk, I present six books that I think are excellent for the students' grade level.  While this program has been very successful and students report enjoying the booktalks, I felt I was barely exposing students to the abundance of great literature we have in our library.  Today we tried a new reading encouragement program with the sixth graders: speed booking.  The program, which is based on the principles of speed dating, is meant to introduce students to a wide array of books and get them excited about reading.

The set-up is so simple.  I pulled A LOT of books from our shelves that are appropriate for sixth grade.  I selected books that students might not notice, particularly non-fiction, and tried to focus on high interest titles.  I placed about 20 books in a pile on six tables.  Students in groups of four sat down at each table. They had two minutes to select a book from their pile and fill out a simple form.  I used Online Stopwatch to countdown the time; when the two minute timer went off, students had to get up, move to the next table clockwise, and start again. 

In just twelve minutes, every student had looked at over 100 books and given their opinions about six of them.  They then had the opportunity to discuss what they saw on the tables with their peers and check out anything that looked interesting.  The students really seemed to enjoy speed booking.  They were extremely well-behaved during the whole process and very interested in the books.  They loved having the opportunity to talk about what they saw with their friends after we were done.  Though no one was required to take a book, of the 21 students who came during the first class, 18 checked out a book from the tables before leaving the library.

The students have a file in their English class where they keep lists of books they might want to read.  They will place their speed reading forms there.

I will definitely continue using speed booking in addition to my regular booktalks.  It is a fun, easy method for energizing students around books and reading.  This program is very student-centered; my only involvement while they were here was to stop and start the stopwatch.  The only downside is that I will have to shelve a lot of books after the program is over, but I can live with that.